Man who urinated on Komagata Maru memorial has mental illness: police

VANCOUVER—A man who urinated on the Komagata Maru memorial in Vancouver was not ticketed for his actions because he has a serious mental illness and drug addiction, the police chief says.

Jim Chu said Thursday that when officers found the man with the help of a witness, they realized he has a serious mental disorder and drug addiction.

Chu said the man has signed an apology note, which was written by a police officer.

“I am sorry for what I did that day at the monument,” it said. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

The man is known to police, and Chu said he likely did not recognize the significance of the memorial that was erected in Vancouver’s Coal Harbour in 2012.

It commemorates a dark chapter in Canadian history in 1914, when immigration officials refused to allow hundreds of Sikhs off the Kamagatu Maru. When the Japanese ship was forced to return to India, a riot broke out and 19 people were killed by police.